Most SNES games ran at a lower resolution and
speed than Genesis games. But...

As a PS4/Wii U owner, even I can honestly say all this flack that Xbox One gets for resolution/framerate is hogwash from gamers who don't know much about hardware. Different consoles have different strengths and there's more to it that just numbers. I am not technically versed in hardware design or software design. So forgive my generalizations. However, I do believe Xbox One is getting the short end of the stick from people before anyone has really seen what it can and cannot do. This console generation is only 4 months old!

For example, (again I'm generalizing here), PS3 had far better textures, but Xbox 360 pushed far more polygons last generation. Just take a look at one of the only games last gen that was really built from the ground up for each of the two consoles:

Both versions of Ninja Gaiden II looked very different because it wasn't a simple port job. The game was rebuilt for PS3 from scratch, and it shows. The PS3 version had less enemies on screen, but better resolution and assets overall. And PS3 ports generally got better over time.

And, looking at history, resolution really didn't matter as much as people would have you think when it came to which console had the "best" looking games.

For example, most SNES games ran at 256x224. Most Genesis/Megadrive games ran at 320x224. Although SNES games could run at 512x448, only one or two games actually ran in that resolution during gameplay. It was VERY rarely used, and usually only for menus and still images by a handful of games.

Additionally, the CPU speed of the Genesis was VASTLY superior to that of the SNES. The SNES was capable of 1.79-3.58 MHz, the Genesis ran at 7.67 MHz. Genesis games could generally have far more sprites rendered simultaneously on screen without slowing down, and at a higher resolution.

This led to many inferior SNES ports of games. But, many people remember SNES hardware being more capable than Genesis hardware (and rightfully so). It was more efficiently designed, allowed for a wider spectrum of colors, and encompassed far more innovative graphical techniques like Mode 7.

Take a look:

http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~dherring/cgt141/project1/comparison.html

Even though the analogy isn't perfect, just because Xbox One games aren't running at as high of a resolution/and or framerate as PS4 games (yet), doesn't mean that it's 100% inferior. I'm sure that exclusive games designed for Xbox One like Ryse, the next Fable, the next Gears, etc. will show off more of its unique attributes, even if the speed and resolution don't reflect it. There's far more to graphics than just those two attributes.

Some more examples off the top of my head that illustrate why it'd be absurd to discount the Xbox One's graphical capabilities this early based on those two attributes:

PSP games run at a higher resolution than 3DS games (per eye), but 3DS games generally look better.

Try blowing up GBA games via GB Player and run it next to NES games. Which has better graphics? GBA. Which runs at a higher resolution? NES.

You can run PC games that are 15 years old at 1080p/60FPS on maxed out settings, and they wouldn't look half as good as console games from today running at 720p/30FPS. Try comparing maxed out Morrowind at 1080p/60fps (without mods) with Skyrim on Xbox 360/PS3 running at sub 720p resolution and 30FPS at best. Which looks better?

Those numbers may seem important now, but just wait until we start seeing games that are not just straight port jobs before we judge the power of the console.---XBL Gamertag: Peltz | PSN ID: Peltz-0 Wii U NNID: Peltz-0 | 3DS Friend code: 1161-0129-0691 | Check out my profile for the list of consoles I own.

Yeah, no matter the specs, the SNES will always be better in my mind since Street Fighter 2 is the only game I ever saw on both machines in person, and the genesis one looked worse IMO. In those days, I would always recommend the SNES as the system of choice, unless you wanted sports games, then go for the Genesis.---The ball is round, the game lasts 90 minutes. That's fact.Everything else, is theory.

SNES is a great example....hell the greatest example being the PS2, the most successful console of all time. NO games looked better on it, yet somehow it didn't matter.

The ONLY thing that really matters, bottom line, is content.

Just take Killzone/Titanfall. Killzone could look like it had decended from high, being brought to your display directly by the glory of luminous angels, while Titanfall crawled out of the mud.....and yet, Titanfall is really the first killer app of this generation, having a buzz that's makes KZ seem like a forgot footnote already.